Gibbons, Berkley hustling to win votes on Yucca

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, May 1, 2002 | 11:10 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Despite nearly hopeless odds, Nevada's two congressmen are continuing their efforts to convince fellow lawmakers to vote against a Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.

The House is expected next week, possibly Wednesday, to stamp its final approval on the project. An overwhelming majority -- at least 300 of 435 lawmakers -- are expected to vote for it.

Still, Reps. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., and Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., are hustling to line up a few more votes against the controversial repository.

Berkley discussed strategy today with Minority Whip Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and about 12 staffers of Democratic colleagues who agreed to help her round up last-minute votes.

Berkley has assigned a number -- one through five -- to each House Democrat. "Ones" strongly oppose Yucca; "fives" strongly support it.

Berkley and her allies intend to heavily lobby the undecided "twos and threes," she said. The allies, who include House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri, are leaning hard on Democrats from states with senators who might be undecided on Yucca, Pelosi said.

Pelosi acknowledged it has been difficult to drum up opposition to the dump.

"There have been a lot of (lobbying) efforts on the other side," she said.

Berkley said it was important to rally every possible lawmaker "so that it doesn't look like this is inevitable when it gets to the Senate."

In a separate meeting today, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., met in his office with nine of the House's 12 Democratic freshmen, urging their vote against Yucca.

Berkley also said it was important to make a final push to "educate" lawmakers now because Yucca budget and waste transportation issues are likely to linger in Congress for the next decade.

Fighting Yucca to the bitter end also holds political benefits.

Berkley, who is running for her third term, emerged from a weekly Democratic Caucus today flanked by Pelosi and Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairwoman, to meet reporters. The committee is the House's Democratic political arm that is focused on winning a majority in that chamber. Pelosi and Lowey sang Berkley's praises to media.

"Shelley Berkley has been relentless" in battling Yucca Mountain, Lowey said.

In other politicking, Berkley staffers and aides to Clark County Commission Chairman Dario Herrera, who is running for Nevada's new House seat, stressed his anti-Yucca efforts.

Herrera, who joined Berkley's strategy session today via conference call, plans to talk to "no less than two dozen" House Democrats before the vote next week, he said.

He dismissed the notion that his anti-Yucca efforts aid his campaign.

"We're just trying to generate as much support as we can going into the Senate vote," Herrera said.

On the other side of the House aisle, Gibbons is unlikely to corral more than a few GOP lawmakers to vote against Yucca. House Republican leaders support the repository, a fact Democrats often repeat.

But Gibbons isn't giving up, either. He plans to speak in opposition to the project every day this week on the House floor during the time congressmen given to make one-minute speeches.

On Tuesday Gibbons held aloft a glass of water, saying that lawmakers would not drink it if it had been contaminated by radioactive waste.

"Well, Mr. Speaker, Nevadans won't either," he said.

Both Berkley and Gibbons are sending "Dear Colleague" letters to House members. The letters are a common method used by lawmakers to urge action on a vote.

Berkley has been sending a series of letters that outline her "top 10 reasons why Yucca Mountain is a failure." Tuesday's letter explained reason No. 7: "People make mistakes, accidents happen!" the letter says about the Energy Department's proposal to transport waste to Nevada.

Gibbons is dropping a letter a day on colleagues. In one he asserted that "Yucca Mountain is NOT a safe bet for spent nuclear fuel. Don't gamble with our national security." In another, he asked lawmakers if they were prepared to live within a half-mile of waste shipping routes. "Neither are 55 million Americans," Gibbons wrote. "Protect our rails and highways."

Nuclear industry officials, including industry lobbyists who are busy this week advocating the repository, say shipping high-level nuclear waste has been proven safe.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post wrote another pro-Yucca editorial this week, urging Congress to pass the measure. The newspaper acknowledged that Congress chose Yucca based on "budget and politics."

"The more money that has been spent to investigate this site, the more momentum has been created to find a way to make it work," the editorial said.

However, the Post argues, "But while years of investigation haven't answered all the questions, neither, neither have they produced adequate reason to stop the project in its tracks."

Scientists have been studying the desert ridge 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas since 1982 and Energy Department managers say they have found nothing to disqualify the site.

Nevada officials argue the site is flawed and cannot safely contain 77,000 tons of highly radioactive waste for 10,000 years. They also argue the waste cannot be safely transported to Nevada from the nation's 131 nuclear power plants and defense and research sites where waste is stored.

The Senate Energy Committee is expected to hold a hearing on Yucca in May, spokesman Bill Wicker said. A full Senate vote is expected by the end of July.

With House and Senate approval, the Energy Department would apply for a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to bury the nation's waste at the site.